Saturday 1 November 2008 20.01 EDT
First published on Saturday 1 November 2008 20.01 EDT

Michael Brown, the Liberal Democrat donor who disappeared while awaiting trial for money-laundering and theft, is believed to have reappeared in the Caribbean.

Credit cards allegedly registered by the Scottish financier have been used over the past six weeks in Antigua and Barbuda, according to private detectives working for two of Brown's creditors. Brown, 42, disappeared while on bail in August. He is due to be tried in his absence at Southwark Crown Court next week.

In a highly unusual move, Brown gave permission to his solicitor this weekend to issue a statement on his behalf. His solicitor, Jamil Ahmud, said that he was in touch with his client and had been told that he had not recently used a credit card in the Caribbean. 'You are misinformed. My client tells me that he has not used a credit card in the Caribbean in the past three years,' he said. He added that he did not know Brown's location. City of London detectives leading the investigation into his disappearance are now expected to ask Ahmud to disclose how he contacted Brown.

The case continues to embarrass the Lib Dems, who accepted £2.4m from Brown in the run-up to the 2005 general election. The party still awaits the conclusion of an Electoral Commission investigation into the donation and is also being sued in the High Court for the return of some of the money.

Records seen by The Observer show that a credit card in the name of M. Campbell-Brown - a name used by Brown in the weeks before he disappeared - was used on the islands at two cash dispensers last month. The details were obtained by a detective agency working on behalf of two businessmen who were once investors in Brown's companies which came under the umbrella name of 5th Avenue Partners.

Brown, a Glasgow-born businessman whose home is in Mallorca, appeared from nowhere when he approached the Liberal Democrats in December 2004 asking if they needed money. After providing the party with the biggest donation in its history, he flew in a private plane with Charles Kennedy, then the leader, and dined with party grandees.

By September that year, questions were being asked about whether the donation was legally permissible, because Brown did not live in Britain and was not registered to vote. Critics claimed that the Lib Dems should not have accepted the money because 5th Avenue Partners showed little evidence of trading in Britain. Companies can donate money only if they are shown to be 'carrying on business' in the UK.

The Electoral Commission, the donations watchdog, began an inquiry into the gift later that month. However, the commission's inquiry was suspended after police began to look into Brown and his companies. Brown absconded this summer while facing 18 charges, including money-laundering, theft and perverting the course of justice. Martin Edwards, the former Manchester United chairman, is a witness in the trial.

The earliest evidence that Brown was adopting a new name comes from the electoral roll. He used his real name when his local council registered him in August 2007, but in September he returned a document to Camden electoral services in London stating that his surname should be registered as Campbell-Brown. Days after his disappearance, a reporter visiting his mansion block near Hampstead Heath saw letters addressed to Michael Campbell-Brown, including post from the NatWest bank.

Brown's wife of 15 years is Sharon Campbell. Unlike him, she is free to live at their home in Mallorca. Neighbours of his Hampstead flat said that in the weeks before he disappeared he had changed his appearance by growing a full beard instead of his usual goatee. His lawyer has disputed claims that Brown has changed his appearance to abscond.

City of London police have searched for Brown following his disappearance. They are expected to examine a number of addresses in Britain, including one of his bail addresses at the home of Paul Strasburger, a fellow Lib Dem donor. Spanish police are also believed to be involved in the inquiry.

The Observer disclosed in September that the Lib Dems are being sued by a lawyer who says that they wrongly accepted £632,000 of his money as part of a donation from Brown. Robert Mann, 60, claims the party failed to carry out adequate checks on the money, received as part of the £2.4m gift from Brown.